Business Digest

The group is also expected to announce plans to double the number of Desire stores, the chain’s “mini-department-store” format that focuses on womenswear.

Negotiations to buy the nine Roches department stores were continuing this weekend, but observers believe that an announcement could come as early as tomorrow.

Debenhams, which already owns three stores in Ireland, is believed to have agreed to pay the Roche family €23m (£15m) for the stores, which will be converted to the Debenhams format over the next six to twelve months.

Debenhams floated in May. However, the department-store chain has had a bumpy stock-market debut, seeing its share price fall 13% to close at 173p last week. The general retail sector has slid 1.22% over the same period.